Rachelle Lightsey, 37, was being held in the Allegheny County Jail on $5,000 bond after her arrest overnight. A court docket lists her charges of arson, insurance fraud and causing or risking a catastrophe, as well as misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment.

Lightsey's children were at a friend's house when the fire began early on the morning of Jan. 21 on Fairview Avenue. Investigators say the fire started on the couch, then quickly spread to the second floor and damaged the roof of a house next door. She escaped without injury.

Lightsey's husband was also not home at the time, having been arrested just a few hours earlier and accused of domestic violence against her.

The criminal complaint says that arson investigators believe Lightsey had been drinking and that her cigarette started the fire on a couch. She acknowledges that she smokes, but not inside the house, according to the complaint. Police charged Lightsey risked her neighbors lives as well as the police officers and firefighters who arrived to help.

A neighbor, who is also a volunteer firefighter, was upset to hear about the charges. Mike Franz said, "As a volunteer, if it's actually true that it was arson then yeah I feel pretty strongly about it, because they are my friends." Franz said, "Some of the guys I know were here. One actually got minor burns."

Firefighters said dropping temperatures were a major issue as they battled the flames on a cold winter morning.

"It's always an issue," West View Fire Marshal Chuck Kovack said at the time. "You can see the streets freezing up, especially on the hill and the hoses kind of freeze inside of that."

According to the criminal complaint, Lightsey told police that she did not start the fire. She told them she tried to put the fire out, but did not know how to use her fire extinguisher. Lightsey faces six counts of endangering persons, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, and one count each of endangering property, insurance fraud and causing or risking a catastrophe. Photos: Fire spreads to second home in West View